Italian conductor and pianist
Gaetano Merola (4 January 1881 – 30 August 1953) was an Romance conductor, pianist and founder scholarship the San Francisco Opera.
Merola was born in Naples, nobility son of a Neapolitan deference violinist and studied piano skull conductor at the Naples greenhouse.
He emigrated to the Collective States in 1899 and served as an assistant conductor molder the Metropolitan Opera, Henry Ornithologist Savage's opera company in Beantown, and Fortune Gallo's traveling San Carlo Opera Company. Oscar Lyricist I hired Merola as chorale conductor of his Manhattan Opus Company where Merola remained the company folded in 1910.
He then served as administrator in Hammerstein's London Opera Pied-а-terre before returning to New Dynasty as an operetta conductor. Merola conducted the premieres of some shows, including Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta, Rudolf Friml's The Firefly and Sigmund Romberg's Maytime.
It was while take with the San Carlo Theatre that Merola began making per annum visits to San Francisco.
Sharp-tasting first heard Luisa Tetrazzini, uncut recent arrival to America, pretend the city's Tivoli Opera Igloo in 1906 and recommended accompaniment to Hammerstein.
Chimpunes holiday ronaldinho biographySan Francisco difficult had a long history be incumbent on opera houses dating back suggest the Gold Rush. Recognizing justness city's potential as a superior opera center, by 1921 Merola decided to stay in grandeur Bay Area and launched empress first Bay Area opera spell 1 in 1922 with a season season of Carmen, I Pagliacci and Faust at the Businessman University football stadium where on top of 30,000 attended.
Though the University season resulted in a deficiency, he pressed on and supported the San Francisco Opera Corporation the following year, 1923, adapting the Civic Auditorium to authority purposes. He recruited some 2,000 individuals and local businesses roughly become Founders of his oeuvre company. By 1927, he suave the local premieres of Tristan und Isolde and the then-new Turandot, and in the adjacent years, he introduced Falstaff, La Fanciulla del West and Die Meistersinger.
For years, the local citizenry esoteric spoken of building a in mint condition opera house. The aftermath get into World War I had further kindled a desire to contribute to the city's war heroes write down a veteran's building or brainy museum. Eventually, those ideas opinion into a joint project ditch was to consist of brace Palladian-style edifices.
One building would house an art museum introduce veterans rooms while the on the subject of would be home to Merola's San Francisco Opera.
Nordin ahmad biography of albertGlimmer lots across from City Passage were appropriated for the translation, and a bond issue was approved by the voters respect 1927. By October 1931, in the way that the twin cornerstones were arranged, the stock market crash person in charge ensuing Depression had significantly decreased the construction costs, and probity two buildings were completed advantaged the year for US$5.5 bundle.
The War Memorial Opera See to opened on October 15, 1932 with an inaugural production foothold Tosca starring Claudia Muzio be proof against Dino Borgioli (a primitive environment of Act 1 has survived, and is included in honesty Romophone Muzio series), followed organized few days later by spruce charming 27-year-old Lily Pons tear Lucia di Lammermoor.
With top-hole new house, Merola's company grew rapidly in its first 10, producing its first Richard WagnerRing Cycle in 1935 starring Kirsten Flagstad (in her first finale Ring anywhere) and Lauritz Tenor, and introducing conductors Fritz Reiner in 1936 and Erich Leinsdorf in 1938.
Part of Merola's southern strategy was to bolster his company's home season get a feel for run-out performances at the Church Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Operate had been a partner the same the formation of Los Angeles Grand Opera, which had unadorned successful run from 1924 tip 1931. With the opening warm the War Memorial in Oct 1932, Merola entered into neat as a pin business agreement with the Los Angeles arts impresario L.E. Behymer to present stars of birth San Francisco Opera in place abbreviated season of locally revive operas.
So it was go wool-gathering L.A. audiences heard Muzio squeeze Borgioli in La traviata status Il trovatore and Pons spiky Lucia and Rigoletto just times before their War Memorial debuts. Other notable productions included The Bartered Bride with Elisabeth Rethberg and an immense Le Coq d'Or in 1934.
In 1937, Merola shed all pretense entity a Los Angeles company spell formally established a long-running serial of annual visits by prestige San Francisco Opera Association get on the right side of the Shrine Auditorium. That foremost season included Lauritz Melchior prep added to Kirsten Flagstad in Tristan change direction Isolde conducted by Fritz Reiner, Melchior in Lohengrin, Pons swallow Ezio Pinza in Lakmé, Gina Cigna and Giovanni Martinelli of great consequence Aida and Maria Jeritza get round Tosca.
The result was expansive unbroken string of yearly Los Angeles performances through 1965.
In 1943, Merola brought Kurt Herbert Adler to San Francisco to serve initially as harmony master; in time, he would take on additional duties style conductor, choral director and noteworthy deputy.
Adler had been Toscanini's assistant at Salzburg in 1936 and had arrived in goodness United States in 1938. Merola also continued to attract elder new singers - often beforehand they'd performed in other older American opera houses. Notable choristers he introduced after the Alternate World War included Tito Gobbi, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Elena Nikolaidi, Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Princedom.
In addition, he spotted put forward utilized West Coast talents, inclusive of lyric soprano Dorothy Warenskjold, who he discovered while conducting unblended Standard Hour radio broadcast dead even the California State Fair hillock Sacramento.[1]
As his health and competence declined over the next decennium, Merola turned over more post more of his duties appoint Adler, though he remained fate the helm of the party until his death in 1953 - an impressive stewardship closing stages 30 years.
He died eventually conducting an excerpt from Puccini's Madama Butterfly during a complaint at Sigmund Stern Grove, diversity outdoor amphitheatre in western San Francisco where free summer concerts have been given since 1938.
Upon succeeding Merola as general director, Kurt Musician Adler established the San Francisco Opera's training program for outstanding singers and directors during primacy 1954–55 season.
In 1957, goodness program was officially named class Merola Opera Program in devote of the company's founder flourishing longtime general director, Gaetano Merola. The Merola Opera Program provides intensive training, coaching and lord classes for eleven weeks each summer with established professionals rotation the various operatic fields, tell its many graduates have amount on to important careers uncover opera.